
CIVIL WAI^ VOLUNTE"^]R 

Oi"^FICSRS' RETIRED LIST 
Hearing before the CurarQittee on\ 
Military Affairs, H.R, 
January 14, 1913, 




Ms% 



;IVIL W AR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST 



HEARING 



BEFORE THE 



COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



ON 



H. R. 9837 



A BILL TO CREATE IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND THE NAVY 
DEPARTMENT, RESPECTIVELY, A ROLL DESIGNATED AS "THE 
CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST," TO AU- 
THORIZE PLACING THEREON WITH RETIRED PAY CER- 
TAIN SURVIVING OFFICERS WHO SERVED IN THE 
ARMY, NAVY, OR MARINE CORPS OF THE 
UNITED STATES IN THE CIVIL WAR, 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 



smt 



A 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1913 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST 

ilJ'LVRING 

BEFORE THE 

COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS 

H. o. tU V HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ON 

H. R. 9837 

' A BILL TO CREATE IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND THE NAVY 
DEPARTMENT, RESPECTIVELY, A ROLL DESIGNATED AS " THE 
CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST," TO AU- 
THORIZE PLACING THEREON WITH RETIRED PAY CER- 
TAIN SURVIVING OFFICERS WHO SERVED IN THE 
ARMY, NAVY, OR MARINE CORPS OF THE 
UNITED STATES IN THE CIVIL WAR, 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 






WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1913 






COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS. 
House of Representatives. 

JAMES HAY, Virginia, Chairman. 

JAMES L. SLAYDEN, Texas. JOHN M. HAMILTON, West Virgiuia. 

S. H. DENT, Jr., Alabama. K. D. McKELLAR, Tennessee. 

JOHN T. WATKINS, Louisiana. GEORGE W. PRINCE, Illinois. 

MICHAEL F. CONRY, New York. JULIUS KAHN, California. 

DUDLEY M. HUGHES, Georgia. JAMES F. BURKE, Pennsylvania. 

WILLIAM J. FIELDS, Kentucky. THOMAS W. BRADLEY, New York. 

DAVID J. LEWIS, Maryland. DANIEL R. ANTHONY, Jr., Kansas. 

EDWIN F. SWEET, Michigan. JOHN Q. TILSON, Connecticut. 

THOMAS G. PATTEN, New York. BUTLER AMES, Massachusetts. 

I. S. PEPPER, Iowa. JAMES H. WICKERSHAM, Alaska. 
LYNDEN EVANS, Illinois. 

Edward W. Carpenter, Clerk. 

James R. Baker, Assistant Clerk. 

\ 



ISIS 



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CIVIL WAR VOLLLXTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 



Committee ox Military Affaies, 

House of Representatives, 

Tvfsday, Janvan/ I4, 1913. 
The committee met at 10.80 o'clock a. m., Hon. James Hay (chair- 
man) presidmg. 

There were present before the committee Hon. John A. T. Hull, 
Gen. Edward S. Salomon, president of the Association of Volunteer 
Officers of the Civil War; Hon. Isaac I. Sherwood, Col. J. P. Clark, 
Col. S. L. Glasgow, Capt. A. D. Gaston, member of the committee 
of the Association of Volunteer Officers of the Civil War: and John 
McElro}', editor of the National Tribune. 

The committee had under consideration House bill 9837, intro- 
duced by Mr. Sulzer May 18, 1911, which is as follows: 

[H. R. 9837, SLity-second Congress, first session.] 

A BILL To create in the War Department and the Navy Department, respectively, a roll designated as 
"The Civil War volunteer officers' retired list," to authorize placing thereon with retired pay certain 
surviving ofBcers who served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States in the Civil 
War, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House 0/ Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That, in recognition of meritorious service rendered to the 
Government of the United States in the Civil War for the preservation of the Union, 
there is hereby created in the War Department and Navy Department, respectively, 
a roll designated as "The Civil War volunteer officers' retired list." Upon yrritten 
application made to the Secretarj^ of the proper department, and subject to the con- 
ditions and requirements hereinafter contained, the name of each survdving officer 
of volunteers who served as an officer in the Army, Xavy, or Marine Corps of the United 
States in the CivU War and was honorably discharged from service by rhuster out, 
resignation, or otherwise, shall be entered" on said list as of the highest rank held 
by him during said service. 

Each sur\'iving officer so entered on said list shall have served in said Army, Navy, 
or^Marine Corps in said war not less than six months, shall not have been retired with 
continuing retired pay, and shall not belong to the United States Army, Navy, or 
Marine Corps: Provided, That a surviving officer who lost an eye, an arm, or a leg 
in the line of duty, or who was honorably discharged from ser^dce by rauster out, 
resignation, or otherwise, because of a wound or other bodily injury received or in- 
curred in the line of duty, or because of disability incurred in the line of duty while 
a prisoner of war, shall, if otherwise eligible under the terms hereof, be entitled to 
be placed on said list, and to receive the maximum retired pay herein provided for 
officers of his former rank without regard to the length of his said service: And pro- 
vided further. That in computing the length of service of any surviving officer, for the 
purposes of this act, there shall be included, in addition to his service as an officer 
of any rank, all such service as he shall have rendered in said war as an enlisted man 
or as an appointed petty officer. Applications for entry on said Civil _ War volunteer 
officers' retired list shall be made in such form and under such regulations as shall be 
prescribed by the War Department and Navy Department, respectively, and proper 
blanks shall be furnished for said purpose upon request made to the proper depart- 
ment by surviving officers claiming the benefits of this act. A certificate of service, 
and of enrollment under this act, properly prepared in the War Department and 
Navy Department, respectively, shall be furnished to each surviving officer whose 
name shall be entered on said list. 

Survi\-ing officers who serv-ed as officers in the Regtilar Army. Na\'j-, or Marine 
(]orps of the United States during the Civil War, and who were honorably discharged 



4 CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS RETIRED LIST. 

from service by muster out, resignation, or otherwise, and have not been reinstated 
in said service nor retired with continuing retired pay, shall, upon application duly, 
made, be entered on said list and receive the same retired pay and other benefits 
according to former rank and service that are herein provided for surviving volun- 
teer officers. 

Subject to the maximum limitation of retired pay hereinafter contained, each sur- 
viving officer whose name shall have been duly entered on said list who shall have 
served as aforesaid in the Civil War a term (jr terms aggregating two years or more 
shall receive, out of any money in (he Treasury not otherwise appropriated, retired 
pay according to his former highest rank and former branch of service as entered on 
said list, wdiich retired pay shall be equal to one-half of the initial active pay now 
received by officers of like or equivalent rank in the United States Army, Navy, or 
Marine Corps, respectively; and each surviving officer whose name shall have been 
duly entered on said list who shall have seived as aforesaid in the Civil War a term 
or terms aggregating less than two years but not less than six months shall receive, 
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, retired pay, each 
according to his former rank and aggregate term of service, the amount thereof bearing 
such proportion to the retired pay herein granted to officers of the same rank for two 
yeai's' service as the aggregate term of service bears to said term of two years. The 
retired pay provided for by this act shall begin upon the date of the passage of this 
act and continue during the natural life of the beneficiary. It shall be payable 
quarterly and shall not exceed, in the case of any surviving officer, three-fourths of 
the initial active pay now received by a captain in the United States Army. 

Each surviving officer who shall receive retired ]iay under this act shall thereby 
relinquish all his right and claim to ]xnision from the United States after the elate 
of the passage of this act, and any payment of such pension made to him covering 
a period subsequent to the passage of this act shall be deducted from the amount due 
him on the first payment or payments under this act. The retired pay allowed under 
this act shall not be subject or liable to any attachment, levy, lien, or detention 
under any process whatsoever; and persons whose names are placed upon said list 
shall not constitute any part of the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN A. T. HULL, OF DES MOINES, IOWA. 

Mr. Hull. Mr. Chairman, this is a subject that you and I, at least, 
are very iamiliar with, as we have been hives ti<2^ating it for a great 
many years. I am very sorry there is not a more general attendance 
of other members of the committee m order to at least start their 
mmds along the line of investigati(^n, if they have not already fully 
informed themselves hi the matter. There has been al)Solutely 
nothing done, so far as the officers of the Civil War are concerned, as 
a body, since the close of the war. There has been a great deal of 
exceedingly liberal legislation, so far as the Volunteer Army is con- 
cerned, and, judging by our past action m wai*s that were of vital 
imjiortance to the country, it seems to me as though the time is here 
when the brave deeds of the Civil War Voliuiteer ofhcers should have 
recognition, not m a munificent way but at least in as great a measure 
as is carried in H. li. 9837, and in the Senate bill introduced by 
Senator Townscnd, which is on exactly the same lines. I know a 
great many might say that we should grant no additional compensa- 
tion to the officers, as they were merely civilians engaged in defending 
their country, and the mere question of rank did not count. But 
rank always has counted in the armies of the world and has always 
counted in the Armies of the United States. It counted in the 
Revolutionary War, in the War of 1812, and in tlie Indian wars; and 
it also counts in all enterjjrises of civil life. 

While rank always counts, in 1861 Congress passed an act that the 
officers and noncommissioned officers and privates of the Volunteer 
forces shall in all respects be on at least an equal footing with the 
Regular Army, 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 5 

I know that this is claimed to apply to those officers and enlisted 
force while they were in the service, biit it has not applied to them all 
these years after the war. and that contention would to my mmd be 
logical if it were not for one fact, and that is that some years ago the 
Congress of the United States passed an act by which they gave to 
the men who served in the Army, Navy, or Marme Corps during the 
Civil War, or in any service as volunteers, and afterwards enterecl 
the reo-ular service,' the same status on retirement as members of 
the' Regular Army, a full grade on retirement, and they made it 
applv not onlv to those who should retire, but to those who were 
already retired, afid gave them an additional grade on the retired 
list. Now, that means simply recognition of Volunteer service, be- 
cause these men have been in the Regular Army since. Since the 
Civil War they have been cared for bv the Government month by 
month and vear bv vear, and the Congress of the Ilnit^ed States 
simplv recognizes the services to the Government during this time by 
giving thein an additional grade, which carries at least three-fourths 
of $r500 some grades, the highest is three-fourths of $1,500. Now, 
the men that seiwed less than 30 davs receive $500, and here are men 
that served, manv of them, three years or over, who have been m civil 
life ever since, relieving the Government of all expense and care ot 
them and their families, making their own homes; and now having 
three vears' service in the Civil War to their credit, they ask Congress 
for the small amount which this bill carries, and which in the highest 
grade will bo onlv one-half of the pay of a captain m the Army. 
The Chairman. Oh, I tlxink not. 
Mr. Salomon. Three-fourths of the initial pay. 
The Chairman'. What bill were you referring to? 
Mr. Hull. H. R. 9837. , . ^ ^ 

Mr Salomon. It will be one-half of their pay, but it must not 
exceed three-fourths of the initial active pay received by a captain 
in the United States Army. 

Mr. Hull. The colonels are the only ones that could possibly 
come up to that. The captains and majors would not average 
much, if any over one-fourth of the initial pay. Now, as 1 say, Con- 
gross, in mv judgment, will simply be doing an act of (hity 5ind par- 
tial justice'' if they give the Volunteer officers this recognition, in 
many cases it wiirbc a recognition that will make jnuch more pleasant 
the declining vears of these officers, one or two of whom I have met 
in the homes who had high commands in the Civil War, but above all 
it will put them on a roll of honor that will give to ttiem and ta the 
generations to follow them an official status that these men were 
officers in the civil war and served there durmg that {)eriod. 
The Chairman. Plow manv of these ofhcers are there? 
Mr. Hull. I am not able to answer that, but I should inuigme 
that the total cost under this bill would not exceed SO 000,000. 

Mr. Salomon. Between five and six millions. Phere are only 
about 12,000 officers ahve now. When the agitation for this com- 
menced there were 25,000 of them, but there are only about 12,000 

1 ^Tf 

Mr Hull. I want to sav further than this, that as far as the Gov- 
ernment is concerned, the'private sohher is now receiving more than 
his full pay at the time he was in active service, and it seems to me 
that the Government, if it intends this act to benefit many ol the 



6 CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 

officers, ouist puss it in the near future. I have no doubt that tfiis 
act will pass the Congress of the United States, but it may be that 
Congress will wait until some time in the future, and it has gotten 
to the point now where it seems to me if you are going to do anything 
for these old officers of the Civil War it must be done at once, and what 
they are asking for is very little for the service they performed. 

Gen. Salomon is more familial- witli the bill than 1 am and I want 
you to Jiear from him, but I just want to say tliat these re])orts we 
have been mailing from year to year — tiie re])ort made last year, for 
instance— are away off as to the cost to-day, because the gaj) is widen- 
ing in the ranks of the ofiicers nu)re rapidly than most of us can 
think of. They are dro])ping off more and more ra])idly every year, 
and it will not be many years until these officers will be all gone. 
They are older than the ])rivates, as a rule, they had greater responsi- 
bilities, and they are iiassing away with greater rapidity. 

Mr. Hamilton. I would like to ask you a fiuestion, if you wUl. 
Here is another bill, which seems to be exactly the same as the Sulzer 
bill, with a short ])roviso there. [Showing bill to Mr. Salomon.] 

Mr. Salomon. But our bill does not interfere with that at all. We 
are very heartily in favor of this bill, and it does not interfere with 
the Sulzer bill at all; in fact, it is identical, with tlie exception of the 
proviso. 

Tliey get their pensions just the same. 1 think if they ixvo entitled 
to the ])ension now the ])assage of this bill would not aifect the status 
of the widow after the death of the officer. 

Mr. Hamilton. You would not object to that ])roviso, would you ? 

Mr. Hull. No; I think it would be outrageous if they did not have 
the same status that tlu^y have now. Of course, if this bill passes, 
there are some of the officers of tlie Army whose ])ensions are greater 
by s})ecial act of Congress than tliey would be under this bill, anil the 
result is that they would not go on the roll, in my judgment, but for 
the majority of them it woidd be an increase over what tlu^y are 
now getting. 

War Department, 
The Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington , Jamiury 24, 1912. 
IJon. Henry E. IJurnham, 

United States Senate. 

Mv Dear Senator: In response to your letter of y(?sterday, in which you ask for 
information with regaixl to the number of volunteer officers from 1861 to 18(i5 who 
were promoted to be commissioned officers inside of two years after enlisting and then 
denied the bounty promised them by the Government, which information is desired 
by the National Volunteer Officers' Association, through a member of its national 
committee, Cai>t. Gaston, of the Senate, I beg leave to advise you as follows: 

No compilation from which the information asked for by you can be obtained has 
ever been made by the War Department, and to make such a compilation would 
require an examination of the records of every one of the many thousands of volunteer 
officers in service during the whole period of the Civil War. Of course, it is impossible 
to undertake such a great task as this would be. 

Many bills providing for the payment of bounty withheld from enlisted men who 
were promoted to be commissioned officers diuing the Civil War have been introduced 
in Congress. Among these is a bill (H. R. 1041)3, 55th Cong., 2d sess.) providing "that 
all soldiers of the war of 1861 who wt^re commissioned as officers shall receive bounties 
the same as if not commissioned." I inclose herewith a report on tliat bill that was 
prepared in the War Department in anticipation of a call of the committee therefor. 
However, no call for a report on the bill before referred to was received. Please 
return that report to me when you have looked it over. 

Very respectfully, ' F. C. Ain.sworth, 

The Adjutant General. 



CIVIL WAK VOLUNTEER OFFICEES' RETIRED LIST. 7 

FOR THE PAYMENT OF BOUNTY AND THREE MONTHS' EXTRA PAY PROPER TO CERTAIN 
ENLISTED MEN PROMOTED TO BE COMMISSIONED OFFICERS DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 

The object of the pending bill is, apparently, to authorize the payment to men who 
enlisted during the Civil War for not less than three years and were promoted to 
be commissioned officers of the bounty of which they were deprived by such promo- 
tion, and also the payment to enlisted men who were promoted to be commissioned 
officers after March 3, 1865, of the three months' extra pay proper which was allowed 
to officers of the same grade mustered in as such previous to that date. 

By the act of Congress approved July 22, 1861, authorizing the payment of a bounty 
of $iOO to men enlisted under its provisions, it was made a condition of payment that 
the soldier should serve a period of two years, or during the war if sooner ended. Sub- 
sequently it was provided that $25 should be paid in advance, the remainder to be 
paid at the end of the term of enlistment, but by act of March 3, 1863, it was required 
that the amount advanced should be stopped from the soldier's pay if he did not serve 
the time requisite under the law to entitle him to the full bounty, unless his discharge 
was by reason of wounds received or disease contracted in service. 

War Department General Orders No. 191, of 1863, authorizing the enlistment of 
veteran volunteers, provided that the bounty of $400 promised to men enlisted under 
its terms should be paid in installments, and the act of July 4, 1864, authorizing the 
payment of $300 bounty contained the same provision. 

It will thus be seen that it was the intention of Congress and of the War Department 
that the promised bounties should be earned by service in the ranks before they 
became payable. Bounties were provided for enlisted men only, and when an 
enlisted man was discharged to accept promotion he forfeited all bounties that had not 
accrued and become payable prior to or at the date of his discharge. When he accepted 
a commission, he entered into a new contract with the Government, assuming new and 
increased responsibilities, for which he received a higher rate of pay and allowances. 
To now add to his compensation the bounties he did not earn by service as an enlisted 
man would be in effect a declaration that his pay as an officer was insufficient and dis- 
proportionate to the service rendered in the higher grade to which he was promoted 
and would be equivalent to an increase of his pay as an officer. In this respect it would 
be a discrimination against officers, both of the Regular and Volunteer forces, who were 
not promoted from the ranks. 

Section 4 of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1865, granted three months' pay 
proper to all officers of Volunteers then in commission below the rank of brigadier 
general who continued in service to the close of the war, and the act approved July 13, 
1866, construed section 4 of the act of March 3, 1865, so as to extend its benefits to al 
officers of Volunteers below the rank specified therein who were in service on the 3d 
day of March, 1865, and who were honorably discharged from the service after the 9th 
day of April, 1865. 

The act of Congress approved July 3, 1884, further extended the benefits of section 4 
of the act of Klarch 3, 1865, to the heirs and legal representatives of all officers of Volun- 
teers below the rank named therein ' ' who were killed or who died in the service between 
the 3d day of March and the 10th day of April, 1865." 

The pending bill proposes to still further extend the benefits of the original act to all 
men who were in the service on the 3d day of March, 1865, as noncommissioned officers 
or privates, and who were subsequently promoted and mustered as commissioned 
officers. With regard to this provision, it is to be remarked that the law as it now 
stands provides for the payment of the three months' extra pay proper only in the cases 
of officers who were in the service as such on March 3, 1865, and continued to serve as 
officers until April 9, 1865, inclusive, or "were killed or who died in the service" 
between March 3, 1865, and April 10, 1865; whereas the pending bill provides for the 
payment of such extra pay to enlisted men who were promoted to be commissioned 
officers after March 3, 1865, whether or not they continued to serve to April 9, 1865, 
inclusive; thus discriminating in favor of such of the latter class as were discharged 
from the service on or before April 9, 1865. 

The views of this office in regard to the intent of the law granting the three months' 
extra pay proper are set forth in a letter of which the following is a copy: 

Record and PEN.'iioN Office, War Department, 

Washington. March 12, 1896. 
lion. S. A. NoRTHWAY, House of Representatives. 

Sir: In returning herewith the letter, left by you at the department this morning, 
of E. J. Ohl, of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, who desires you to introduce a bill in Congress 
with a view to giving to officers who were not commissioned until after March 3,, 
1865, the three months' pay proper which was granted by the act approved on that 



8 CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 

date to all officers then in commission below the rank of brigadier general who con- 
tinued in service until the close of the war, I have the honor to advise you as follows: 
Your correspondent is in error in assuming that the three months' extra pay referred 
to by him was granted with a view to compensate those to whom it was given "for 
the extra expense they had to go to." The intent of the act of March 3, 1865, is 
understood to have been to induce trained and experienced officers to remain in 
service to the close of the war, and thus to obviate as much as possible the necessity 
of accepting new and inexperienced officers into service. It evidently was not the 
purpose of the act to encourage enlisted men to assume the responsibilities of com- 
missioned officers, and for this reason, doubtless, it did not make any provision for 
persons who might be commissioned after it went into effect. 
Very respectfully, 

F. C. AiNSWORTH, 

Colonel, United States Army, 
Chief Record and Pulsion OJfice. 

It is impossible to determine accurately either the number of the beneficiaries 
under this bill, or the cost of carrjdng the proposed legislation into effect, for the 
reason that to do so would involve the examination of the record of every volunteer 
commissioned officer in service in the War of the Rebellion, but after an exhaustive 
investigntiou of the subject it is estimated by this office that, shoidd this bill become 
a law, about 53,000 soldiers, or their heii's, would be entitled to bounty, amounting 
to about $6,500,000, withheld from them by reason of promotion. No reliable esti- 
mate can be given of the number of enlisted men promoted to be commissioned officers 
after March 3, 1865, but the number is probably not very large. 

Respectfully submitted. 



The houorablo the Secretary of War. 



(Jhiff Record and Pension Office. 



[Telegram.) 
Gen. L. E. S. ^^alomon, 

Metropolitan Building, Washington, D. C: 
Can not be at meeting. Special assignment in court. Highly approve of bill. 
Hope it will pass and then justice will be done to volunteer officers. Every con- 
sideration demands its passage. Urge it with all your power. ^ 

Alfred B. Beers. 18 



MixxE.soTA State Forestry Board, 

St. Paul. Minn., December 18, 1912. 
Capt. A. D. Gaston, 

Metropolitan Bank Building, WusJiington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: I think there are not over about 200 Ci\T.l War officers now li^dng in 
Minnesota who would be affected by the retired pay bill. 
Very tnily, yours. 

r. C. Andrews, 
Formerly Colonel Thud 31inne.'iota Regiment Volunteer Infantry, 

Brigadier and Brevet Major General ('nited States Volunteers. 



AFFECT.S MINXE.^DTA veterans — 1,000 WOULD BENEFIT BY PENSION BILL FAVORABLY 

REPORTED. 

IPioneer Press Washington bureau.] 

Washington, December n. 

Approximately 1,000 veterans of the Civil War, residents m Minnesota, are bene- 
ficiaries of the Townsend bill, ordered reported to-day by the Senate Military Affairs 
Committee, which ])roposes to place on the rethed list, at half pay, men who served 
as officers in volunteer regunents in the sixties. This measure has been pending for a 
number of years, and every effort will be made to pass it at this session. It stands 
only a fair chance of going through. 

The bill provides that the officers who receive allowances under the proposed law 
^hall relinquisli })ension payments they may be receivmg under the authority of other 
laws. The bill was reported to-day l)y Senator Brown of Nebraska. He will try to 
have it ])ass(Ml in the Senate wlicti Congn>ss reass('inl)les after the holiday rece?-. 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 9 

STATEMENT OF HON. ISAAC E. SHERWOOD, A EEPRESENTATIVE 
IN CONGRESS FROM THE NINTH DISTRICT OF OHIO. 

Mr. Sherwood. I was a member of this conmiittee in the Sixtieth 
and Sixty-first Congresses, and I suppose I bothered the committee 
about as much as any other Member on this question ; and you remem- 
ber that we did secure a majority vote on a bill that contained the 
main features of this bill in tlie Sixty-first Congress. The bill went 
on' the calendar but was never brought to a vote. Now, I think my 
companion has estimated the number rather too high. From the 
best information I can get there must be somewhere between nine 
"and ten thousand officers of the war living to-day. According to the 
very best statistics we can get, the average age of an officer was from 
five to six years older than that of the private soldier. We have 
recognized in our legislation in this committee and in the Xaval Com- 
rqittee and in other committees — the Judiciary Committee — the idea 
that the cost of living has been increased about .33 per cent in the last 
eight years, and we recognized that fact by increasing the salary of 
th.e President ; in the bill by which we increased the ])ay of the Regular 
"Army about 10 per cent; we increased the })av of the officers of the 
Army who were drawing .^6.000 or S7,000 a year, about $500. We 
increased the pay of the Navy 10 per cent, and we increased the pay 
of the judiciar}' and the Cabinet officers. Now, the old soldier has to 
buy what he has to live on in the same market as a millionaire ^lember 
of Congress. This is not a question of the high cost of living; it is a 
question of whether, having passed a bill to increase the pay of the 
private soldier, which inchules about 430,000, we shall carry it to the 
officers. You remember, about 40 years after the American Revo- 
lution, Congress passed a law retiring for life every officer and 
every private of the War of the Revolution, everyone who served 
in the Continental line for two years. That was with full pay for 
the officers and privates. Five years later, in 1833, as I remember, 
they passed a law retiring officers of the militia and the men — every- 
one who participated in that war for two vears, off and on, retired on 
full pay. Now every country in the world recognizes the difference 
between the officer and the private. We do that. We retire our 
Regular .Vrmy officers at the age of 64. Xot 5 per cent of these officers 
ever saw any battle service. There is no question ever raised as to 
the cost. Now, here is a body of men, every one of whom has seen 
service — -and hard service— and this is a question of whether we shall 
recognize merit and service in the legislation of Congress. I do not 
want to occupy the time of this committee unnecessarily. The 
question has been thorouglily co\ered by the gentlemen who have 
preceded me; but I want to say a word as to the (,'ost of this bill. 
Wiat is your estimate of the cost, Capt. Gaston? 

Capt. Gastox. The estimate given me bv those figuring on it runs 
between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000. 

^fr. Sherwood. It will cost less than half of one of these useless 
battleships, and the money will be distributed among all the prople. 

}>Lr. Salomon. ]\fr. McElroy, editor of the Xational Tribune, is here, 
and we would like to hear him. 

The Chairmax. We will hear from vou now, ]\Ir. McElrov. 



10 CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN M'ELROY, EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL 

TRIBUNE. 

Mr. McElroy. As an enlisted man of two and a half years' service, 
and as, in a certain sense, a representative of the enHsted men of the 
country, I come here to make an apj^eal for what I tliink is justice 
to our officers. Now, witliout doubt tlie enhsted men of tlie United 
wStates Ai*my would be glad to see their old officers properly recog- 
nized and rewarded by this Government. It is a mistake to assume 
that any considerable number of the enhsted men are oj^posed to tliis 
act of justice. There are grumblers. At the siege of Troy they had 
their Thersites, and in every camp since they have had them, but you 
will remember that the Thersites in the old Grecian war did not do 
any fighting, and the Thersites of to-day is no difterent. There are 
comparatively few of them, the great body of the men feeling strong 
pride, affection, and interest in their old officers. In my work I have 
an opportunity of Iviiowing pubUc opinion pretty well among the men, 
and I always judge of a man, whether he was a good soldier or not, 
by the way he speaks of his officers. A man who was a good soldier 
holds liis officers in high esteem, much liigher esteem than you gen- 
tlemen, possibly, who were not in the Army, can appreciate. He has 
seen his officers lead him forward in battle; he Ivtiows what sacrifices 
they have made ; he knows the care they have taken of their men, and 
he has a very strong aft'ection for liis old officers, and in fact goes to 
the extent of idealizing them. I should hate to see my old major 
here and find him as commonplace as the majors and colonels I meet 
nowadays. When I knew him I thought he carried the whole 
science of war in liis scarf knot, the whole practice of it in liis dagger 
sheatli. I thought he was the greatest man that ever fived, and all 
old soldiers feel that way toward their officers who were really officers. 

It is to the glory of our American manhood that we had such offi- 
cers to lead us. We are proud of our achievements and of our officers 
who led us in the war. This is not a pension question. It has been 
a very ill-advised effort that lias brought this officers' bill into any 
relation or connection with the pension question. It is a matter of 
absolute justice to tlie men who, by their soldiersliip, by their great 
devotion to their country rose to the rank of officers, and I want to 
assure you gentlemen if you do this act of justice, which, as Gen. 
Sherwood has said, is something tliat pertains all over the world, 
and is felt absolutely necessary to a military hierarchy in all the 
countries of the world — if you do this act of justice to the officers 
you will find that it meets the a^iproval of the great mass of Union 
veterans. We had a very superior class of officers. The more you 
study the war, the more you are im])resse(l with the intelligence and 
the devotion and all the other qualities which adorn the highest man- 
hood, and which were found so generally in the officers who led the 
Union troops during the war. I beieve that is all I have to say, and 
I thank you for your attention. 

Mr. Salomon. Mr. McElroy brought out something which causes 
me to read this telegram from Mr. Alfred B. Beers. Some of the 
Members and Senators have asked the question liow this would affect 
the enlisted men, and that there was some op})osition to this bill by 
the enlisted men. I telegraj>hed and wrote to the commander in 
chief of the Grand Army of the Be]niblic. who is supposed to know 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 11 

more about the Grand Army than anybody else, and he replies as 
follows : 

Gen. L. E. S. Salomon, 

Metropolitan Building , Washington, B.C.: 
Can not be at meeting. Special assignment in comt. Highly approve of bill. 
Hope it will pass, and then justice will be done to Volunteer officers. Every consid- 
eration demands its passage. Urge it with all your power. 

Alfred B. Beers. 

And I want to say here that so far as that feelmg is concerned — • 
that is, out on the Pacific coast — there is no such feeling. I have 
been elected commander of my post now 11 times, and whenever I 
am away from home they always elect me commander, and I am 
the only officer in the post; the others are all enlisted men, and 
whenever I am not in town they elect me commander. 

The Chairman. Whom will you have next, General? 

Mr. Salomon. Well, Capt. Gaston has some things that he would 
like to brmg to the notice of the committee. 

The Chairman. Veiy well, we will hear you, Capt. Gaston. 

STATEMENT OF CAPT. A. D. GASTON, MEMBER OF THE 
NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTEER 
OFFICERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Capt. Gaston. Here is a letter that came into the office in the 
course of business, addressed to me, from St. Paul: 

Capt. A. D. Gaston, 

Metropolitan Bank Building, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: I think there are not over about 200 Civil War officers now living in 
Minnesota who will be affected by the retired pay bill. 

\'ery truly, yours, C. C. Andrews, 

Formerly Colonel Third Minnesota Regiment Volunteer Infantry, 

Brigadier and Brevet Major General, United States Volunteers. 

Now, tliere has been a great deal said about the number of officers 
living to-day. I think the national committee having this matter 
in charge have as complete a, list, a mailing list, as there is to-day. 
When Chairman Xettleton was alive, the ffist thing he did was to 
correct mistakes of the mailing list that we had at that time, and that 
has been done up to the present time, and I had it corrected just 
before the chairman came on from San Francisco. Now liere is a bill 
that I paid for 7,000 copies of Senator To\nisend's bill, and we also 
had 7,000 copies of the hearings, and we mailed ^out about 8,000 of 
them iji envelopes that required them to be returned, or we had notice 
of the receipt. We have in our office to-day over 200 of those that 
have been returned since last June, and that does not include the 
States of California, Oregon, Oliio, and Pennsylvania. Here is a mat- 
ter that I do not think has ever been jiresented. 

The Chairman. How many officers are there? 

Capt. Gaston. Our list shows that we have gotten something in 
the neighborhood of 8.000. That is thd extent of our mailing list. 
The list covers Canada. Germany, and every State in this country. 
This receipt shows 7,000 copies printed. 

Here is a matter that came into my hands in an official way and* 
has never been published. I requested Senator Burnham to make a 



12 CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 

request for some evidence in relation to the bounty that was promised 
volunteer officers in 1861, $100 bounty, which is on the statute books 
to-day, and I will quote here just a para<2;raph and file the papers, 
and you can look them over further. This is an official communica- 
tion from the War Department dated January 24, 1912, inclosing a 
report by Hon. S. A. Northway. The extract from the report that 
I refer to says; I quote from the report of the Hon. S. A. Northway 
of March 12, 1896: "About 53,000 soldiers, or their heirs, would be 
entitled to bounty amounting to $6,500,000 vvithlield from them by 
reason of promotion." That is an official j^aper, gentlemen. 

Mr. Hull. If the Chairman will permit me to ask a question. 
On the question of your mailing list, my understanding is that an 
active force is getting tlie number of living officers as furnished by the 
Loyal Legion, and that the membership of the Loyal Legion has 
aided the committee in finding in every State and locality every 
officer who might not be a member of the association. The official 
report of November 30, 1912, of Col. John P. Nicholson, recorder in 
chief of the Loyal Legion of the United States, of all meml)ers living 
as original or of war service, which includes those of the Regular 
Army, is 4.24S. 

The natioiial committee concede that of 10.t)20 volunteer officers 
now living and eligible under this bill, two-fiftlrs are now members 
of the Loyal Legion. 

Other and later (h\ta from the recorder in chief. Col. John P. 
Nicholson, will be procured and sul)mitte(l l)y Chairman E. S. 
Saloman. 

C^apt. Gaston. General Nettleton hatl a list C(nn|)iled from data 
fvn'uished at his re({uest through each State headquarters of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, compiled from reports furnished by 
the several G. A. R. posts throughout each State, and considered 
these reports as correct as ])ossible to be made then and up-to-date, 
by careful corrections, either by additions and loss by death: and 
we brought it down to date and did the very ])est we could to reach 
everyone, and every man I can find is on that list. And these 
papers have gone out: the committee furnished 500, and that made 
7,500, and that was sufficient to answer our mailing list. 

The matter referred to is as follows: 

I res])ectfully contend there was no law for the withholding of these 
bounties. 

By the act of (!on<);ress approved .Tiily 22, 1861, authorizing tlie jjayinent of a bounty 
of $100 to men enlisted under its provisions, it was made a condition of payment 
that the soldier should serve a period of two years or during the war if sooner ended. 

There is no part of this act of Congress that can justly claim the soldier should be 
required to serve as a private soldier in the ranks for two years in order to secure pay- 
ment of this bounty of $100, or that the bounty would be forfeited should he accept 
promotion from the ranks within two years. 

Many soldiers had seen active service under an early enlistment. Their com- 
pany's reginienlal ofBcers found them worthy of promotion before having served 
as a private two years, in many cases recommended their promotion to other com- 
mands being recruitecl and sent again to the front, serving continuously for two, 
three, and four years, not all the time as privates, but as officers with greater respon- 
sibilities, expenses, and dangers. , 

The three months' extra pay proper could not be in any manner construed as a 
bounty. This was in March 3, 1865, continuing to serve as officers until April 9, 
1865, near the close of the war. 

I quote from the report to lion. S. A. Northway under date of March 12, 1896: 
"About 53,000 soldiers, or their heirs, would be entitled to bounty, amounting to 
$0,500,000, withheld from them by reason of promotion." 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 13 

This vast amount of bounty money promised was absolutely taken from hard- 
earned and greatly depreciated moneys, not by any act of Congress, but by an arbi- 
trary ruling of the War Department. 

It is believed by the volunteer officers living, could the facts be secured from the 
War Department records, the amount of bounty promised, but withheld, as above 
stated, would be greater than the amount required to make first payment under 
Townsend-Sulzer bills, known as the "Volunteer oflicers' retirement legislation." 

Respectfully submitted. 

A. D. Gaston. 

' Ml". Salomon. Col. Swoods, of New York, was one of our corre- 
spondents, and at one time a member of our national committee. 
He had a list of 81 or 82 officers to whom he supplied our literature 
when we sent it to him. He did not receive any for two years, and 
about two or three months ago we sent him some literature to be 
distributed among these 80 or 81 survivors, and 38 of them were 
returned. Out of the 80 or 81 living two or three years ago, only 42 
remained. So we are dying off pretty fast, and if this honorable com- 
mittee and the House of Representatives do not move very fast 
father time will get ahead of them and there will not be any necessity 
of moving, and I hope, gentlemen, you will see it in that light and 
take early actioiL 

STATEMENT OF EDWARD S. SALOMON, PRESIDENT OF THE 
ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTEER OFFICERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

Ml". Salomon. There are several gentlemen here, and I would like 
to hear from Gen. Sherwood, who is familiar with this subject. Tiie 
time has arrived, it seems to me, when it has become urgent to act 
upon this matter. We have been talking for the last six or seven 
years, and when this agitation first commenced there were about 
25,000 officers living. One-half of them have passed away, and there 
are not over 12,000 now. Different amendments have been suggested 
from time to time to the bill, and as it has been thus delayed from 
year to year half of the men have died. If the same tactics of post- 
ponement prevail in the House and Senate there will in the near 
future be no necessity for the bill, because there will be none living 
to claim its benefits. I am one of the youngest and I am 76 years 
of age. What we are asking for is not charity, it is justice; it is 
based upon the promises made by Abraham Lincoln and by Congress 
during the time of the Civil War. We had implicit faith in what this 
great Government promised us; we had implicit fgith that those 
promises would be kept. The War of the Rebellion demonstrated one 
fact to the world, and that is that America is not only one of the 
great powers of the world, but the greatest military power of the 
world. And that applies to the arjnies of the North and the South. 

When I glance upon this picture here [indicating painting of Grant 
and Lee at Appomattox], where the two greatest military geniuses 
of the age look upon us, I can say that the war, regardless of the 
result — and more by that result — has demonstrated to the world 
that we are the greatest military power on earth. I remember not 
very long ago there was a German man of war in the harbor in San 
Francisco, and I happened to meet some of the officers, and we were 
discussing the Civil War, and the French and German war. One of 
the officers, a young officer, said: 

"It is true you have a great fightmg power; you are very good, 
strong military men, but you have no organization. If we from 



14 , CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 

Europe would come here on the Atlantic coast with 500,000 soldiers 
well drilled and ofhcered and equipped, we could take that whole 
coast and march right into the country." I said: ''That is true, 
you might come over and you might land, and you might start and 
march into the country, and you might get as far as the AUeghenies, 
but mark my word, not one of you would ever return," and they 
admitted, by looking into history, that that was true. Now, this 
great military power has been made by the men of the North and 
South, and by the officers who commanded, directed, and led their 
troops into action. An army without officers would be useless. 
A force of 10,000 men commanded by good military officers, men who 
understand their business, will scatter 100,000 men without officers 
in so short a time that the 100,000 would not know what happened. It 
is absurd for anyone to sav that officers are not entitled to any more 
than the enlisted men. They were entitled to more during the war; 
more was expected of them. They were responsible for the actions 
of then* men, for the success of the Army. If any mistake was made 
the officers were blamed, the privates were not. Now they come here 
to ask at the hands of their Govermnent justice and right. They ask 
it humbly as something that has been promised them — I repeat, 
promised them by Abraham Lincoln, a roll of honor to be established, 
that their children and children's children might say that their 
fathers fought for this country, for the unity of it, for the greatness 
of the Nation. 

It may be pro])er to mention here that nearly three-fourths of the 
surviving officers of the Volunteer Army rose to theu* respective posi- 
tions from the ranks and gained their shoulder straps on hard-fought 
battle fields. 

While saymg nothing against the gallant young officers of the Regu- 
lar Army, I call to your attention the fact that while these officers 
received their militaiy education at the ex])ense of the Government 
at West Pomt and Annapolis these sturdy Volunteer officers had their 
militaiy education and mstructions on bloody fields to the music of 
shot and shell, and through theh prowess, gallantly, and indomitable 
courage gamed the rank m which they ask you to maintain and recog- 
nize them. 

And now, gentlemen, as your time is short, I wiH refer you to the 
reports that have heretofore been made. Mr. Prmce, of your com- 
mittee, has made a most exhaustive and elaborate report on this sub- 
ject. He goes into every detail. He goes mto the cost and into 
eveiy item of importance, and the mformation you will get from this 
will convmce you that we ask for simply what is due us. 

The time until the 4tli of March is short. I get letters, as the chair- 
man of this committee, by the hundreds from all parts of the countiy, 
and as the 4th of March is onty a few weeks away, if Congress does 
not do justice to us this time we will give up the fight, for we will 
believe that they do not intend to recognize us. The cost is now 
trifling. Next year it will be less, and the followmg year it wiU be 
still lower, and m four or five years it will be a veiy small item, and 
in 10 years from now there will be nobody left to claim the benefits 
of the'biU. 

Mr. Sherwood. What will be the cost of it now ? 

Mr. Salomon. Not to exceed $6,000,000. The officers receive the 
same pension now as the enhsted men, and they have to relinquish 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 15 

that if we receive this recognition as Army officers. This is not a 
pension bill. This is a bill that asks for the recognition of these 
ofhcers, and the report of Mr. Prince and the statements made at the 
hearing before the subcommittee of the Senate, of which all of you 
gentlemen will receive a copy, will show you that we are acting on 
promises that were made to us, and that we are simply asking that 
these promises be carried out. We have waited 50 years now, and 
we do not want to wait 50 years longer. In 1828 and 1832 the Con- 
gress of the United States recognized the services of the ofhcers of 
the Revolutionaiy War and granted tliem full pay. Then, at a later 
date, I do not remember the exact date, they restored even their 
pension to them in addition to the full pay. Now, since then this 
country has grown to a magnificent state. It is the greatest country 
in the world. We are the greatest, the wealthiest, people in the 
world, and do not let us stand behind, or fall behind, the generosity 
and justice and right tliat was exercised by our predecessors as much 
as 75 or 80 years ago. 

I would have a great deal more to say, but I wiU refer you to the 
hearmg before the subcommittee of the Senate, where the matter 
w^as veiy fully discussed, ha\TJig had more time on that occasion, 
and also to the very exhaustive and splendidly written and con- 
ceived argument of Gen. A. B. Nettleton, who was my predecessor 
as chairman of this committee, and to the argument ot Gen. Raum, 
who preceded Gen. Nettleton. There seems to be a sort of fatality 
connected with the chairmansliip of this committee, as they both 
died last year, and then I, while m the discharge of my duties, was 
struck down and was very sick for four months. I am ready and 
willing to die, but I do not want to die until this bill is passed. I 
would lilve to march an army of these men up here, but you are 
threatened now, as I see by the papers, with an army of women, 
and I do not want to interfere, or else I might have brought these 
soldiers up here to try to convmce you by force of numbers if we can 
not do so by ai-gument. 

Now, when I look at this picture [Grant and Leo], it calls to my 
mind the wonderful development as soldiers of the American citizen. 
And the honors were easy. They were entitled to as much praise 
and credit on the Southern as we were on our side. I stood on the 
bloody field at Gettysburg on the days of that great battle. I saw 
that most wonderful charge of Pickett's Division, witli which the 
charge of the "Six Hundred" at Balaklava, the charge of the Old 
Guard under Gen. Carbonnier, and Marshal Ney's imperious attack 
upon the English squares at Waterloo comjiared not at all and fade ^ 
into insignificance. I saw those men charge u]) to the mouths of 
the guns time and time again with such a wonderful exliibition of 
bravery that it challenged the admiration of the world as something 
that had never been seen before and never will be again in warfare, 
and if they were here, those brave men who fought against us, they 
would say with one word: ''If we had not had the men to lead us, 
if we had not had the word of command of those who led us into 
those fiery redoubts, we would not have been able to do it; we woukl 
have been compelled to fall back after the first attack." The officers 
were the men that kept them together, backed u]) by the bravery of 
the indi^ddual soldier. And so it is in every Army, that officers 
have always been recognized. vSuperior qualifications and greater 



16 CIVIL WAR AXi'LUNTEEK OFFICERS' EETIEED LIST. 

and more ini])(irtaiit. «iut!rs arc rcH-ognizcd now in commercial insti- 
tutions, in railroad coni]3anies, and all great corporations. Great 
commercial corporations ]>ension their men, and you will not deny 
that the man who has held the higher position should not have the 
higher ])ension. And tiiis is more true in military affairs than it is 
in civil life. 

Referring you again to this document, of wliich you will receive 
copies, I will witluh'aw and ask my friend Gen. Sherwood to say a few 
words. 

Mr. Hamilton. I am interested in"this bill and I \vould like to ask 
you a ([uestion. Did not these soldiers volunteer under an expressed 
promise, not the same as regular soldiers ? 

Mr. Salomon. That was by statute in 1862. 

Mr. Hamilton. Ihe one wliich authorized the call of the volun- 
teers ? 

Mt. Salomon. Yes, and Abraham Lincoln in a proclamation said 
they would be treated the same as the llegular Army officers, and 
Congress enacted a lav/ which you will iind quoteil in Mr. Prince's 
report. The ])romises to the enlisted men have been kept, but the 
promises to us have not, and as I said, if it is nuich longer delayed, 
there won't be any necessity of keeping it at all, and I hope you gen- 
tlemen will see the justice of our claim and not delay us any longer. 

STATEMENT OF COL. J. B. CLARKE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

Col. Clarke. Mr. I'hairman and gentlemen, the subject of H. R. 
9837 has, it appears to me, been gone over very fully during the past 
seven years' agitation before Congress, but there are a few points 
that I might mention. 1 was one of the youngest officers that went 
into the Civil War. There w^as but one other officer in my regiment 
younger than myself, and he died several years ago. I am 67 years 
old. I mention this to show that the officers wdio would be benefited 
by the passage of this l)ill are now at least 67 years old. I under- 
stand the average age to-day is 76 years. Wlien the Civil War broke 
out this Government needed men and needed officers and we went into 
the service in large numbers and you are all familiar with the result. 
At the time many of them went in they left coUege or school, and in 
that way lost the 0})portunity of being educated that they would 
have had had they remained at home. I do not loiow as I ought to 
say that in my own case. I was born and raised in tlie same county 
with one of onr distmguislied Senators, in fact two of them, wdio have 
both been in the Senate for many years and are stiU members. One of 
them served for nine months in the C-ivil War and was awarded the 
congressional medal of honor for gaUantry on the battle field. I have 
looked upon this legislation as something that was due the officers of 
the Civil War and had expected that long before tliis time legislation 
would have been enacted that would carry out fuUy the promises 
made by Congress in 1861, and by Abraham Lincoln, then President 
of the United States, who on two different occasions, when issuing 
calls for 300,000 troo})S, the pledge was made by him that volunteer 
officers should be placed upon an equal footing in every way wdth 
the Regular Army. I believe that under the promises made by 
President Lincohi and the Congress of 186f that the volunteer 



CIVIL WAR VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' RETIRED LIST. 17 

officers of the Civil War would l^e entitled to retired pay at the full 
amount from the date of their discharges up to the present time. 

If that was given I wouUl have something like $65,000 comin*^ to 
me up to the present moment back pay; but we do not ask that. 
We do not ask even to be placed upon "the retired list on an equal 
footing with the Regular Army ofhcers. We are satisfied and will be 
satisfied with the present bills that are before the House and the 
Senate, which gives us one-half pay instead of three-fjuarters ; neither 
do we ask that it date back to the date of our discharges, but that it 
date from the passage of the bill, which would give us a very small 
per cent as compared with what I beUeve we are justly and legally 
entitled to. I do not think there are over 7,000 oITicers that will be 
benefited by this bill. Their average age, as I stated before, is about 
76 years. You all must agree that when a man, who endured from 
two to foiu* years of Army life hardships as experienced by them in 
1861 to 1865, lives to be 76 years old, there is not muchsdikelihood of 
his remaining on this earth much longer. 

Mr. Sherwood. What are your figures on that basis of 7,000, and 
taking age and length of human life into consideration, what is your 
estimate of the cost of this bill ? 

Col. Clarke. Deducting the pensions now paid probably $6,000,000 
for the first year. I estimate it will shrink at least one-fifth after the 
first year, one-sixth of the remainder the second year, and following 
the second year will be rapidly reduced, and in io years I estimate 
there will not be enough of the officers alive to make it noticeable by 
the payments they would receive. Gentlemen, we do not come here 
to ask for anything but what we believe is right and just to the sur- 
viving officers of the Civil War who rendered valuable service to their 
country in its time of need and notwithstanding our salaries were 
exceptionally small and that we were paid in a depreciated currency 
\vorth about 40 cents on the dollar, we took it and made no com- 
plaint; we never have made any complaint. We never have com- 
plained, even when a precedent of this our present request was made 
and established by Congress, in placing at least two volunteer officers 
on the retired list several years ago with fidl pay and allowances of 
retired officers, and I believe with an advance of one grade above 
what they had during the Civil War. We come to you at this late 
day believing that by law and all the rules of right and justice we are 
entitled to what we ask for (and more), but we will be satisfied with 
that, and will ask God's blessings upon this committee if they recom- 
mend the immediate passage of this bill. 
74875—13—2 



